StaceyPowers

Yeah, Epic Games.

Yeah, it's interesting realizing that the same developer is now doing Fortnite.

Game developers are often notorious for seeming to ignore fan feedback, but there are definitely some companies which seem to go the extra mile. For the life of me I can’t remember the name, but I recall a story about a developer for an FPS game which received feedback from one player complaining about a particular map feature screwing up strategic play (a tree, I believe), and they removed it on his request. I found that pretty impressive. What game developers do you think do the best job listening to their fans and building a relationship?

Has anyone joined in the Alpha for this game (PC only, unfortunately), and if so, how is it?

What in your opinion is the best open world video game that’s ever been made? Why?

I definitely will! I feel bad that I forgot about it (it missed the theater in the small town where I live). Thanks for the reminder!

I'm sad to say I still haven't seen Alien: Covenant. I'm in agreement with you about Prometheus. My only complaint with it was that the tone felt a bit too "clean" versus the grittier older films (referring to cinematography and soundtracking), but I thought the story and characters were great.

For single-player text games, Zork: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zork. For MUDs, honestly I'm not sure what to suggest. The most interesting one I played was Aetolia, but it was well over a decade ago; I have no clue what it's like there now. Yes! I'm really behind on current stuff though. I still play lots of Q3A and UT 2004, lol. I just picked up Bioshock Infinite and will be playing that soon. I've lived in lots of places 😉

Oh yeah. If it followed real-life rules, it'd be awful. If it followed in-game rules though, it'd be a pretty laid-back apocalypse. IRL, you can't heal a broken limb with severe radiation poisoning. But in Fallout, you can =D

Does anyone else wish that open world games had more intangible rewards? For example, it’s nice that I get a bonus for giving a poor person a coin in Skyrim, but it bothers me that I can give them endless coins and they still are stuck in the same predicament. I wish there was an intangible reward for the charity, like seeing them in new clothes, or eating food, or getting off the streets. Another example would be the Volare! quest I just finished in Fallout NV last night. I was super excited to see the plane fly—but I knew it’d probably be a letdown. It sure was. I’m told they will move the plane to the base … and that’s that. I got XP and some gear out of it, but I really just wanted to see the plane in the air.

I may have already asked this at some point (hopefully not). If you had to live in a video game universe, which would you choose, and why? I think I’d pick Fallout. Despite the fact that the world effectively ended and everything is a mess, Fallout is a kind of playground of the apocalypse. You get severe radiation poisoning and broken limbs fix themselves (in real life, you'd just get horrifically sick and die). All the scary stuff in real life is more like a running joke in Fallout; nothing genuinely bad ever happens to you. Plus, they’ve got cool retro architecture and design everywhere.

I have only played Skyrim so far, but I grabbed a used copy of Oblivion the other day and am looking forward to that. Anyway, for those of you who have played a number of Elder Scrolls games, which is your favorite, and why?

Oh, me too! And the horkers.

If you could be friends with any video game character in real life, who would it be and why? Note: not necessarily your favorite video game character, but rather someone you think would actually make a good friend. For me, I think I would pick Mjoll from Skyrim. She is genuinely honorably and loyal. I know many gamers find Aerin irritating, but I love that she makes her friendship with him a permanent priority. After that, I’d pick Leliana from DA. I like that she enjoys cunning, but she has a conscience and can be trusted. She’s also open-minded and not afraid to be seen as strange.

I’ve read repeatedly that you can hit a clicker on the back of the head with a brick in The Last of Us, and this will stun it. But every time I have tried, I’ve just gotten killed. Anyone know if this works or what I’m doing wrong?

Fallout New Vegas sometimes “stutters.” I’ve found that even when the game is running smoothly, every few moments when I walk, it will sometimes freeze for half a second. This is not a major problem, but sometimes when I enter a certain area, the “stuttering” will result in extreme choppiness, and often the screen will stick repeatedly for minutes at a time, if it doesn’t just freeze upright. It makes it literally unplayable in spots. Does anyone know what causes this or how to fix it? I’m on PS3.

Which video games do you think have the best dialogue, in terms of being compelling, natural, consistent and entertaining? I have been really impressed by the dialogue in both The Last of Us and Dragon Age: Origins.

Does anyone here write game-related fan fiction? I don’t, but I have a friend who really gets into it. If anyone here does, I’d love to see a link out to your work.

Obviously we all weigh a number of considerations into our game purchases, but if you had to pick one most important factor, what would it be? For me, I think I would say it is depth. It can be depth of characters, depth of world development, or depth of story, but it needs to be there in one respect or another.

On a related note to Cute but nasty monsters from video games , are there any enemies in video games you just can't bring yourself to kill at all, whether owing to their cuteness or some other unrelated factor? For me, it's the Forsworn in Skyrim. I sided with them in the Cidna Mine quest, and I really was hoping the Reach would be theirs again. So it really irritates me that the game continues to have almost all of them be hostile despite that decision. Since I want them to take back the Reach, all I can bring myself to do when attacked is to flee at top speed so I won't be forced to kill them.

I once got to help build an area for a text-based game (like those discussed in thisthread). It was on a volunteer basis, but it was fun and interesting, and I loved that I got to make a permanent contribution to something that I cared a lot about. Has anyone here ever worked on a game of any type, paid or otherwise?

It's actually very immersive. After a while, you kind of forget you're reading and typing. It's hard to beat the graphics engine of the imagination. You can think of the mulitplayer ones (MUDs) as kind of over-glorified chat rooms where the "rooms" are virtual locations with descriptions, all interconnecting into whole lands. You can hang out and talk, create new buildings or landscapes, engage in combat, attempt to take over the world, whatever.

Do you prefer one-handed or two-handed weapons in video games? I know people who like two-handed weapons, but I usually can’t wrap my mind around it. I really like having a free hand to use another weapon or cast a spell. Plus, big two-handed weapons are so … slow. It is hard to time my hits. By the time I've swung the blade, the target has moved.

Do you prefer to wear light or heavy armor in video games? I like light armor. I tend to think the best defense is a good offense. I also don’t like running/moving more slowly because of bulky armor. Plus, I have a hard enough time keeping my inventory weight under control.

What is the very first game you can ever remember playing? For me, I know it had to have been something on the original Nintendo, most likely Tetris.